All Head Coach Bob Ghiloni and his charges asked for was a cold shooting night from the run-n-gun Akron Zips and they were awarded with nothing but a giant lump of coal.
Akron shot a blistering 60 percent from the field and hit 19 three pointers resulting in a 123-52 rout of the Denison on Wednesday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Denison came out of the gates playing aggressive basketball and taking it right to the likes of Romeo Travis and Nick Dials. Through the first 10 minutes of play the two teams went back and forth, trading leads. Denison took a 12-11 lead when Dan Hodgkinson knocked down a 10-footer with 14:48 left in the first half.
In all, there would be 12 lead changes in the game however, the Zips quickly took control of the contest when sophomore sharpshooter Bubba Walther hit the first of nine first half three-pointers for Akron. The basket by Walther opened the floodgates for the Zips as sophomore Cedric Middleton would follow with two consecutive treys pushing the Zip lead to 10 with just over 9 minutes left in the first half.
After forcing Denison into 14 first-half turnovers and hitting 26-of-44 shots from the field, Akron found themselves leading by 41 at the break and able to cruise through the second half.
Unfortunately for Denison there was no cooling off as the Zip reserves were even hotter than the starters. Seven players scored in double-digits and the combo of Walhter, Dials, Dru Joyce and Zach Sowers were a combined 11-for-11 from beyond the arc.
For Denison, senior Robb Hern led the way with 16 points, 14 of which came via some aggressive offensive play in the first half. Freshman guard Jordan Krantz also shined in 17 minutes of play, scoring 13 points while notching a game-high four steals.
Denison shot 34 percent from the field (21-of-62) and were 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Akron improves to 3-1 and will travel to Louisville for a meeting with the #5 ranked Cardinals on Saturday. Denison (2-5) returns to Granville for a 5 p.m. tip-off against Bluffton on Saturday, Dec.10.
Newspaper Box Score Denison vs Akron 12/07/05 7 p.m. at Akron, Ohio (Rhodes Arena) At Akron, Ohio (Rhodes Arena) AKRON 123, DENISON 52 DENISON (2-5) Robb Hern 6-13 3-4 16; Jordan Krantz 5-14 2-2 13; Dan Hodgkinson 3-4 1-2 7; Steve Koecheler 3-5 0-0 6; Tony Julian 2-5 0-0 4; Andrew Cook 1-2 0-0 2; Dan Izzo 1-7 0-0 2; Brian Gognat 0-3 2-3 2; Scott Ratermann 0-0 0-0 0; Lou Rohlfing 0-0 0-0 0; Shea McMahon 0-2 0-0 0; Brian Elder 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Shea 0-1 0-0 0; Erik Huss 0-0 0-0 0; John Ward 0-3 0-0 0; Chris Eberst 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 8-11 52. AKRON (3-1) WALTHER, Bubba 8-11 2-2 21; SOWERS, Zach 4-4 0-0 12; FUTCH, Matt 5-8 1-5 11; JOYCE, Dru 4-5 0-0 10; DIALS, Nick 4-6 0-0 10; RYBAK, John 4-7 1-2 10; TRAVIS, Romeo 5-9 0-0 10; MIDDLETON, Cedrick 3-4 1-2 9; LINHART, Nate 2-4 2-2 8; GODDARD, Nick 3-7 0-0 7; PETERSON, Darryl 2-8 2-2 6; PRESTON, Rob 1-1 1-2 4; MRAZ, Chad 1-2 0-0 3; MILUM, Quade 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 46-77 12-19 123. Denison....................... 29 23 - 52 Akron......................... 70 53 - 123 3-point goals-Denison 2-12 (Robb Hern 1-3; Jordan Krantz 1-3; Andrew Cook 0-1; Dan Izzo 0-1; Shea McMahon 0-1; John Ward 0-1; Chris Eberst 0-2), Akron 19-31 (SOWERS, Zach 4-4; WALTHER, Bubba 3-3; LINHART, Nate 2-3; JOYCE, Dru 2-2; MIDDLETON, Cedrick 2-3; DIALS, Nick 2-3; RYBAK, John 1-4; PRESTON, Rob 1-1; MRAZ, Chad 1-1; GODDARD, Nick 1-5; PETERSON, Darryl 0-2). Fouled out--Denison-None, Akron-None. Rebounds-Denison 29 (Steve Koecheler 6), Akron 46 (FUTCH, Matt 7). Assists-Denison 6 (John Ward 2), Akron 31 (JOYCE, Dru 5; MRAZ, Chad 5). Total fouls-Denison 15, Akron 18. A-2432 ID-382344